Grand jury indicts Donald Trump, key Obamacare provision struck down: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Grand jury indicts Donald Trump

A New York grand jury has indicted former President Donald Trump. Plus, violent thunderstorms are expected for millions, USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze talks through the latest legal fight around Obamacare, USA TODAY Wellness Reporter David Oliver looks at why America was so interested in Gwyneth Paltrow's ski trial, and the Final Four tips off.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 31st of March 2023. Today, a former president indicted. Plus a new legal fight over Obamacare, and why were so many people obsessed with the Gwyneth Paltrow ski trial?

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A New York grand jury has voted to indict former President Donald Trump. The case centers around unspecified criminal charges and is the first time in history that a former president has been charged criminally. The grand jury had been investigating hush money payments to two women who claimed to have had sex with him. The outline of those payments became clear after he was elected in 2016 and more details have been revealed in sworn testimony since. Trump's attorney said that he's expected in New York by Tuesday for arraignment and that they plan to fight in court. It's still not clear whether Trump will turn himself in willingly, but once arrested and taken into custody, he'll be read his rights. He'll then likely be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken. Trump himself put out a statement yesterday calling the move political persecution. President Joe Biden and the White House had no immediate comment yesterday.

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Violent thunderstorms will slam parts of the Central US today along with a high probability of tornadoes in some areas. More than 65 million people are at risk ranging from Texas to Alabama in the South up to Wisconsin and Michigan in the Upper Midwest, and blizzards could blanket the Dakotas. One of the places that will likely be at risk today is Mississippi. Parts of the Mississippi Delta are still reeling after tornadoes left 26 people dead and dozens injured last week. You can find out more about what's happening in your neck of the woods on USATODAY.com.

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A federal judge in Texas blocked enforcement yesterday of no cost preventative healthcare mandates included in the Affordable Care Act. The move sets up the latest legal brawl over Obamacare, as USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze explains. Hi, John.

John Fritze:

Hey.

Taylor Wilson:

What does this decision mean for people on ACA insurance plans and what prompted this rollback?

John Fritze:

The Affordable Care Act requires insurers to provide free care for some preventative services, and there is a panel of government officials that decides which of those services are included. In fact, there's several panels, but there's one panel at issue here in this case called the Preventative Services Task Force. They set recommendations for which services will be covered and not covered. And the issue here, the legal issue is that this panel is making these binding decisions, but they are not appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate like most other major officials making sort of binding decisions in the government are. And so I think the thing here to stay focused on is what are the recommendations that this panel has made that may be affected by this decision. It is things like cervical cancer screenings, diabetes screenings, certain vaccines. This list is still sort of being figured out, but there's a lot potentially at stake here in terms of preventative care. Both sides are likely to appeal this decision. I don't think anything's going to happen right away.

Taylor Wilson:

John, you're right that the judge in this case has repeatedly ruled against Obamacare. Why is that?

John Fritze:

Yeah. US District Judge Reed O'Connor is a George W. Bush nominee to the district court in Texas. He was the one who ruled in a pretty major case back in 2018 that the Affordable Care Act's mandate coverage was unconstitutional. That was a case that all went all the way up to the Supreme Court on the merits and was decided in 2021, and that decision was overruled. And so he has a sort of a history here of ruling against the Affordable Care Act and being overruled by a pretty conservative Supreme Court.

Taylor Wilson:

John mentioned the appeals that are expected here, what's the upcoming timeline looking like?

John Fritze:

That's a great question. This is what legal folks talk about as the injunctive phase here. This is a sort of an enforcement mechanism, and so this will go up, I think, relatively quickly and will potentially land on the Supreme Court shadow docket, which is this docket where they handle sort of emergency cases, for lack of a better word. So that is something that could get decided pretty quickly. The underlying merits of this decision and sort of the constitutional questions and the legal questions that are much more involved, that could probably take years to work its way through the courts.

Taylor Wilson:

USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze, thanks so much.

John Fritze:

Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has been found not responsible after being sued over a 2016 ski accident. Paltrow was also awarded $1 in symbolic damages for her counterclaim. Paltrow's time in court has gripped certain parts of social media and called America's obsession with celebrity back into question. I spoke with USA TODAY Wellness Reporter David Oliver for more. Hi, David. Welcome back to the show.

David Oliver:

Hey, thanks much for having me again.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, thanks for coming back on. So, can you just start by explaining to those who may not know, what is Gwyneth Paltrow being sued for here?

David Oliver:

Okay, so she's being sued because of a ski crash incident back in 2016, this man, Terry Sanderson. So he alleges that Gwyneth Paltrow skied into him, but she says that he skied into her, and basically he suffered some injuries because of this incident. He initially sued her for I believe $3.1 million and now is only suing her for $300,000, but she has also now issued a countersuit for $1 and lawyer fees. So it's basically a lot of he said/she said going on in terms of what happened with this crash. But it's certainly captured the Internet's attention for a lot of what Gwyneth Paltrow has been saying during this trial, outfits that she's worn, things like that. It's become a bit of a farce.

Taylor Wilson:

It's definitely taking up a lot of folks' TikTok feeds and Twitter feeds. Why are people so invested in this, David?

David Oliver:

I spoke to some experts about this and often the case with things like this, it's the absurdity of the wealthy. It's why we're obsessed with reality television. It's not because we think these people are wonderful people, it's because we are fascinated by it, the way that they carry themselves in the world. It's almost like anti-aspirational in some way. I mean, Gwyneth Paltrow is saying things like, "Well, I missed a half day of skiing." And it's like, what? And she also offered the bailiffs treats for doing a good job or something. It's all very paired with her Goop brand and all of her lifestyle advice that is often ridiculed.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, it's been interesting. An expert at one point said Terry Sanderson, who's suing Paltrow, can't taste wine in the same way anymore. So, like you say, David, this trial has really highlighted some of the absurdities of the wealthy, right?

David Oliver:

Yeah. I believe I read the resort they were saying at, it was clearly a pricey resort, so it's like these are two rich people in theory. I can't speak to how wealthy Sanderson is, but Paltrow, I imagine, is very wealthy. So, it's one of those things where you're like, okay, who are we rooting for here necessarily? But obviously, Sanderson has suffered injuries in a way that Gwyneth seemingly hasn't. So there's a lot there, too, we have to consider and be sensitive about while also pointing out the absurdity. It's holding both of these things at once.

Taylor Wilson:

David, I feel like celebrity culture, you mentioned reality TV, I feel like it's constantly demonized as this terrible thing, this vapid thing. Is this trial an example of the negatives of celebrity culture, or does it show that stars can offer a kind of escapism with all of this other heavy stuff going on around us?

David Oliver:

I think that basically it's both. I mean, I think that there's been a lot going on in the world. I mean, this week in particular, obviously like the horrible deadly Nashville shooting, Philadelphia has to boil water, this journalist who's now just been detained in Russia, there's all these awful things that this trial has likely been sort of a respite from. People find entertainment, I guess, wherever they can.

Taylor Wilson:

USA TODAY Wellness Reporter David Oliver, always a pleasure. Thanks so much.

David Oliver:

Thanks so much, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

The Women's Final Four is set for tonight in Dallas. First up, 1 seed Virginia Tech takes on No. 3 LSU at 7:00 PM Eastern. Then 2 seed Iowa tries to upset number one overall seed South Carolina, who's undefeated through 31 games this season. You can tune in on ESPN. Then tomorrow it's theMen's turn in Houston. That tournament has been one of the most unpredictable in history and has led to one matchup between 5 seed San Diego State and 9 seed Florida Atlantic. On the other side, 4 seed Connecticut will play 5 seed Miami. You can watch the games on CBS.

And you can find new episodes of 5 Things every morning right here, wherever you get your podcast. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Grand jury indicts Trump, Final Four tips off: 5 Things podcast